Tackling Today’s

Healthcare Advances?

We're here to help.

Research-Driven Insights,
Strategies, and Communications
to Help Transform the World of Healthcare.

Full-Service marketing
support for healthcare organization

Navigating the healthcare landscape is more challenging than ever.

From workforce shortages and patient trust to the evolving role of technology and value-based care, the pressures are high. That’s where we at S.I.R. come in. With decades of experience in healthcare strategy and communications, we understand the complexities of this ever-changing industry and know how to engage key stakeholders—whether patients, providers, or policymakers. We help hospitals, healthcare systems, and nonprofit organizations craft solutions that enhance care, strengthen trust, and drive impact. Your mission is saving lives—ours is helping you do it better.

Ready to see what we can do together? Let’s talk!

Strategies

Focused on solutions that address today’s most pressing healthcare challenges. Our team works alongside you to navigate industry complexities and drive meaningful impact.

Results

Backed by in-depth market research, we specialize in strategic planning, branding, patient and provider communications, community engagement, reputation and crisis management, as well as health equity initiatives.

Insights

Our in-house research team delivers data-driven insights that inform critical decision-making, helping healthcare organizations stay ahead in an ever-evolving landscape.

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Strengthening Community Engagement & Brand Identity

Sentara Healthcare

Advancing Corporate Social Responsibility, Storytelling, and Brand Positioning

  • Sentara Healthcare sought to enhance its impact on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) while strengthening community trust, employee engagement, and brand identity. Key challenges included:

    • Lack of a formalized Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework to guide investments in food insecurity, workforce development, and mental health initiatives.

    • Limited community awareness of Sentara’s role beyond traditional healthcare, requiring a compelling narrative to humanize its impact.

    • An outdated brand identity, leading to inconsistencies across services and communications as Sentara expanded into new markets.

  • S.I.R. partnered with Sentara Healthcare on a comprehensive engagement and branding strategy, including:

    • Developing a CSR framework – Conducted qualitative and quantitative research to align Sentara’s mission with community needs. This structure guided Sentara’s COVID-19 response, addressing food insecurity and workforce challenges.

    • Launching emotionally driven campaigns –

      • Voices of Kindness (TV Campaign) – Award-winning commercials spotlighting Sentara employees in a cinematic, community-driven format to foster trust and engagement.

      • Anchoring Communities (Mini-Documentaries) – Showcased Sentara’s nonprofit partners (e.g., Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank of the Albemarle) to elevate grassroots impact stories.

    • Refreshing the Sentara brand – Conducted stakeholder and consumer perception research, leading to a modernized brand identity that aligns with Sentara’s evolving healthcare services.

  • Sentara’s community engagement and brand initiatives delivered significant impact:

    • CSR framework success – Enabled rapid mobilization of resources during the COVID-19 crisis.

    • Record-breaking engagement – Voices of Kindness and Anchoring Communities became Sentara’s most popular social media content, reaching millions through broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms.

    • Stronger brand alignment – The 2021 brand refresh ensured consistency across services, reinforcing Sentara’s position as a trusted community partner.

    With a data-driven, community-focused approach, Sentara Healthcare has successfully enhanced its impact, strengthened its brand, and deepened connections with the people it serves.

Strategic Branding & Donor Engagement

Medical College of Virginia Foundation

  • As a key philanthropic partner to VCU Health, the Medical College of Virginia Foundation (MCVF) needed to enhance its visibility and donor engagement in an increasingly competitive healthcare fundraising landscape. To stand out, the foundation required a clear, compelling brand identity, a stronger messaging framework, and a strategic approach to donor outreach that would effectively communicate its role in advancing research, education, and patient care.

  • S.I.R. partnered with MCVF on a multi-year engagement to refine its brand and communications strategy through extensive stakeholder research and brand positioning analysis:

    • 2016 – Conducted stakeholder research to develop a strategic brand architecture, including a refined mission, values, and messaging framework that led to the launch of MCVF’s inaugural communications office.

    • 2020 – Led a benchmark awareness study, revealing increased visibility and donor satisfaction. Insights from the study informed an updated messaging framework emphasizing MCVF’s impact on advancing healthcare for all.

    • 2024 – Conducted follow-up research to assess progress and identify new engagement opportunities, leading to refined messaging strategies that better clarify MCVF’s relationship with VCU Health and optimize digital platforms for donor outreach.

  • Through this ongoing collaboration, MCVF has strengthened its brand identity, improved donor engagement, and reinforced its position as a leading philanthropic partner in healthcare innovation. The insights and strategies developed by S.I.R. have provided the foundation with a clear, compelling narrative that continues to inspire donors and drive philanthropic impact.

Strengthening philanthropy through research-driven messaging

VCU Department of Health Administration

Strategic Marketing & Recruitment Plan

Strengthening program positioning and enrollment strategies

  • Despite ranking as the No. 3 health administration graduate program in the country, VCU’s Department of Health Administration faced operational challenges and an evolving healthcare landscape that hindered its ability to fully capitalize on recruitment opportunities. To remain competitive and attract top-tier applicants, the program needed a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy informed by research-driven insights.

  • Since 2016, S.I.R. has partnered with VCU’s Health Administration department on a three-phase strategic engagement:

    • Phase I – Conducted a landscape assessment and gathered extensive qualitative and quantitative data through focus groups, interviews, and surveys with key stakeholders, including current students, past applicants, alumni, faculty, and staff.

    • Phase II – Developed a strategic marketing and communications plan, including refined brand positioning, key messaging, and campaign elements tailored to enhance recruitment and engagement.

    • Phase III – Providing ongoing support for marketing plan implementation, including website development, collateral creation, and advertising strategies to elevate the program’s reach and visibility.

  • Through this ongoing collaboration, VCU’s Health Administration program is better positioned to attract top students and strengthen its market presence. With a research-backed messaging and recruitment strategy, the program now has a clear, compelling communications framework to drive engagement and enrollment, reinforcing its leadership in healthcare education.

Market Research & Service Development

Home Instead Senior Care

  • As a rapidly growing international franchise network, Home Instead Senior Care needed to enhance its service offerings, strengthen its market positioning, and generate public awareness around the importance of in-home care. To achieve these goals, the organization required research-backed insights to support new service development, media outreach, and industry advocacy—all while maintaining credibility in the healthcare space.

  • S.I.R. conducted a series of strategic research initiatives over more than a decade to inform Home Instead’s growth, including:

    • New service development research – Led studies to shape the design of Home Instead’s dementia care services, ensuring they aligned with both market needs and best practices in elder care.

    • Public relations research – Developed insights that fueled earned media strategies, including the widely recognized "40/70 Rule", which demonstrated the correlation between early family conversations and positive eldercare outcomes.

    • Market positioning research – Conducted a “reasons to believe” study, reinforcing Home Instead’s claim that paid in-home care can be as effective as family caregiving.

    To ensure the validity of its research, S.I.R. navigated the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval process, enlisting a panel of medical professionals and academics led by Dr. Peter Boling, a geriatrician at VCU, to oversee study methodology, survey design, and reporting.

  • S.I.R.’s research directly influenced Home Instead’s service offerings, brand credibility, and industry advocacy efforts. The insights not only shaped new dementia care programs but also provided evidence-based messaging that strengthened Home Instead’s market position and public relations success. The IRB-approved research further validated Home Instead’s impact in the elder care industry, helping establish the brand as a trusted leader in nonmedical home care.

Advancing in-home elder care through research-driven strategy

Enhancing Awareness & Engagement with End-of-Life Care

Hospice of the Piedmont

  • Hospice of the Piedmont sought to better understand public perceptions and awareness of hospice care in order to improve engagement, increase trust, and strengthen its positioning in the community. Despite positive overall perceptions of hospice services, the organization faced challenges including:

    • Low awareness and name recognition, with only 27% of respondents recalling Hospice of the Piedmont unaided.

    • Misinformation about hospice services, with only 35% understanding that hospice is an insurance benefit available to all.

    • Discomfort with end-of-life discussions, despite 92% of respondents believing these conversations should happen.

  • S.I.R. conducted a quantitative survey among 400 Central Virginia residents, targeting adults aged 65+ and caregivers aged 45-64.

    The study assessed:

    • Public familiarity with hospice care and key barriers to engagement.

    • Top-of-mind associations with hospice services, revealing key themes like "caring," "helpful," and "compassionate".

    • Levels of trust and perceived gaps in hospice education and communication strategies.

    • Cultural and religious considerations, helping refine messaging to address both practical concerns and emotional/spiritual factors in end-of-life planning.

  • The research provided critical insights that now guide Hospice of the Piedmont’s outreach and engagement strategies:

    • Targeted education efforts – Addressing misconceptions about hospice care and expanding awareness of available services.

    • Community-focused messaging – Emphasizing the trusted, compassionate role of hospice caregivers to build deeper community connections.

    • Enhanced conversations around end-of-life care – Encouraging early discussions with family members, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

    By leveraging these insights, Hospice of the Piedmont is now positioned to increase public trust, engagement, and access to compassionate end-of-life care across the region.

Understanding perceptions to improve hospice education and outreach

Physician Recruitment & Engagement Strategy

MEDARVA Stony Point Surgery Center

Attracting and retaining Millennial surgical talent

  • As an independent ambulatory surgery center (ASC), MEDARVA Stony Point Surgery Center needed to remain competitive in recruiting the next generation of surgical talent. With Millennial physicians entering the workforce with new expectations for employment, training, and surgical privileges, the center faced the challenge of understanding their motivations and adapting its recruitment strategy to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape.

  • S.I.R. conducted a comprehensive research initiative to uncover key insights into the Millennial surgical physician mindset. This included:

    • Internal stakeholder analysis with MEDARVA leadership, staff, and board members to assess competitive positioning and recruitment goals.

    • Qualitative interviews with Millennial surgical residents nearing program completion to understand their career priorities, training needs, and job expectations.

    • Generational trends analysis to inform communication strategies tailored to Millennial physicians.

    S.I.R. then translated these insights into an actionable marketing and recruitment plan, outlining how to effectively engage prospective Millennial physicians based on their specialties, preferred communication channels, and decision-making factors.

  • MEDARVA implemented immediate changes to its recruitment approach and surgical privileges offerings, making the center more attractive to the next generation of surgical talent. These strategic updates continue to drive success in physician engagement and retention, strengthening the center’s long-term competitiveness in the outpatient surgery market.

Let’s Talk

All of S.I.R.’s projects start with a conversation. Let us know a little about you and your organization and we’ll set a time to talk. You can visit our offices in the Fan District of Richmond, VA or we can hop on a video call. Whatever works best for you works best for us.

If you would prefer to start your conversation with one of our consultants individually, please refer to our people page.